In the spirit of the five generations on the land before him, Matt Kumlin has bequeathed more than six square kilometres of the family ranch just outside Cochrane to the Southern Alberta Land Trust Society (SALTS), meaning it will be preserved as it is now in perpetuity.
SALTS is a rancher led, non-profit land trust that works with landowners to protect southern Alberta’s most ecologically valuable private lands.
It is the fifth easement of its kind in the grazing area surrounding Jumping Pound Creek. Combined, the easements now add up to a protected area of about 27 square kilometres in a block north of Highway 1, west of Highway 22, and south of Cochrane. More of that land is now under SALTS than not.
Drivers enjoying the view of the mountains from the Cowboy Trail south of Cochrane can be assured the visible ranch land between them and the mountains will remain ranch land no matter who owns it. That means no development of any kind.
“On title now, (the society) has a conservation easement forever. They have bought the rights, so no housing, no roads, no oil and gas – nothing that would detract from the natural state of the land is allowed on that,” Kumlin said.
“There will never be a house or a golf course or anything like that.”
Kumlin, a 34-year-old veterinarian, and his wife Angela took over management of the Lazy J Cattle Company, a cow-calf operation, from his father Alvin in 2018. It’s been in the family since 1885.
The sixth generation is still in training. Kumlin said six-year-old Wade helps out “as much as a six-year-old can.”
He said pursuing the easement was the end result of a family discussion around having a mission and vision statement, and what land meant to them.
“We talked about all the things you can do with land and decided that a conservation easement was the best use for this land, for future generations,” he said.
Beside the environmental aspects of thei story, Kumlin added that the aesthetics of that parcel of land will also be protected, situated as it is in the foreground of the panoramic views of the Rockies.
“It will always be open for viewing,” he said. “Maybe you can’t walk on it, but you can sure look at it.”
Kumlin noted the speed of development of communities on the outer edges of Cochrane like Fireside and South Bow Landing was a factor in SALTS targeting the area to secure easements.
Conservation easements restrict specific land uses that would degrade the health of the land, but the management and ownership of the land remain in the hands of the owner.
SALTS also sees the area as a critical watershed for Calgary and area.
Over the past 25 years SALTS has worked to protect over 40,000 acres (162 square kilometres) in Alberta’s foothills and grasslands. For scale, this is equivalent in size to 14 Nose Hill Parks or 12 Fish Creek Provincial Parks in Calgary.
These protected lands include fishing rivers, open spaces along the Cowboy Trail, critical habitat for a whole range of wildlife species, and land in the headwaters of the Bow and Oldman Rivers that helps to keep drinking water clean.
Jumping Pound Creek flows into the Bow River in Cochrane, just upstream of where Calgary draws one of its two main sources of drinking water.
“Landscapes that once helped to filter and store water, now see water from rain and snow run quickly into our rivers while adding pollutants from streets and yards," SALTS stated in a news release. "Stormwater management can help but it is not nearly as effective as the services provided by natural landscapes.”
Significant funding was provided by both the provincial and federal governments. In the case of the three recent conservation easements, the Calgary Foundation was also a major contributor.
The total investment to date by all donors over the past decade to help SALTS conserve land in the Jumping Pound watershed is approximately $10 million.
“We’ve got more important projects lined up that will help to further safeguard Calgary’s water,” said SALTS Executive Director Justin Thompson.
Ranching, he said, is one of the most compatible uses to protect watersheds and wildlife habitat because it keeps the land in a more naturalized state.
